As we approach the 2025 offseason, what Indianapolis Colts‘what does the salary cap situation look like?
According to Over the hoodthe Colts currently have $36.78 million in available cap space. League-wide, that ranks 17th — almost right in the middle — in the NFL.
Now, the Colts could create additional cap space in a few different ways. One solution is to release an often veteran player whose cap hit is greater than his dead cap, which are dollars that have essentially already been paid to the player but have not yet been factored into the salary cap, from so those dollars stay on the books. even if this player plays elsewhere.
An example might be Raekwon Davis. This season, Davis’ cap hit is projected to be $8.99 million if he makes the team. However, with only $2.5 million in dead cap space if he were released, the Colts would create $6.49 million in cap space by releasing him.
Another option the Colts have to create wiggle room is to restructure their contract. Ideally, this is done when a player has several years remaining on their contract.
There are several ways to accomplish this, but in short, teams often take a portion of a player’s base salary and convert it into a signing bonus. The benefit of this is that a player’s entire base salary must be on the books for the current year, whereas with a signing bonus, those cap dollars can be prorated across the remaining life of the contract.
For example, if a player has a base salary of $8 million and has three years left on his contract, $6 million could be converted into a signing bonus. From there, $2 million will remain for the current year, $2 million will go to the second year of the contract, and $2 million to the third year.
The end result is that this would then reduce the current year’s cap from $8 million to $4 million, with $4 million allocated to the following two years.
The final cap-saving measure involves a contract extension. This works the same way as a restructuring. With new years and money added to the deal, teams will often use this as an opportunity to push some of the current year’s cap down the road and into these future years.
Free agency, as we know, is often not an avenue that general manager Chris Ballard and the Colts explore in depth as they prioritize re-signing their own players. However, as I explained recently, if this team is going to advance, this roster needs more competition and by competition, that doesn’t mean signing every expensive free agent, but there are several position groups where the time to game should have to win.
Here’s a look at who is in the Colts’ 2025 free agent class.
This article was originally published on Colts Wire: Colts salary cap outlook heading into 2025 offseason
